X Geek - stuff you don’t know

It is for sure the age of drugs. We are a pill pumping society that abuses there bowel movement to change into something they are not. But is this really wrong? Can it really be wrong for us to take a pill and do better on an exam? I don’t think so. We were smart enough to make the pill. Or at least to earn the money for it and buy it. But is there such a pill? Well. Yes and no. There are pills and they are much stronger than an uninformed person would think. They are not magic pills. But they sure do provide an edge.  Grouped up into one big mess are dozens of completely different categories of drugs. We call them Nootropics, cognitive enhancer or simply smart drugs. What is common for all of them is that they provide a certain improvement in an area of intelligence. Unfortunately around 20% of substances named into this category don’t actually belong there, so you should always be careful with a new “nootropic”.  This in itself is an unexplored and a taboo topic so borders are not clearly defined.

When we talk about the features of a nootropic we usually talk about:

1.      Anti-depression, stress management and mood stabilization.

2.      Improved brain “functions” aka data analysis, reflex.

3.      Mental agility aka ability to change topics fast.

4.      Concentration, focus, ability to stay on one problem for long periods of time.

5.      Short and long term memory improvement – faster learning, longer and easier retention.

6.      General stimulation, increased will to work.

Many of the nootropics actually classify into more than one of these categories. Sometimes people create stacks that are made up of multiple nootropics each efficient in its own category. This should be done with caution because adding too much to the formula can be counter-productive. This said stacks are still an excellent way of getting even more power from the pill because many nootropics have a synergetic effect on each other. There is no need to talk now about all the nootropics. We will go through them one by one. You can go through an approximately correct list on Wikipedia just for curiosity purpose. Never depend on information from wiki websites when it comes to drugs - you can get hurt. Many substances you are already abusing on a daily level (like caffeine). These are nootropics of first generation. Usually herbs that have been with us for quite some time. In the next chapter we will be using the first nootropic of second generation to introduce you in more detail to the world of nootropics, Piracetam.

” …as we go through the new evolution,
it’s gonna telescope to the point we should be able to see it manifest itself… within our lifetime, within this generation.
The new evolution stems from information,
and it stems from two types of information: digital and analog.
The digital is artificial intelligence.
The analog results from molecular biology, the cloning of the organism.
And you knit the two together with neurobiology.
Before on the old evolutionary paradigm,
one would die and the other would grow and dominate.
But under the new paradigm, they would exist…
as a mutually supportive, noncompetitive grouping.
Okay, independent from the external.
And what is interesting here is that evolution now becomes an individually centered process,
emanating from the needs and the desires of the individual,
and not an external process, a passive process…
where the individual is just at the whim of the collective.
So, you produce a neo-human with a new individuality and a new consciousness.
But that’s only the beginning of the evolutionary cycle…
because as the next cycle proceeds,
the input is now this new intelligence.
As intelligence piles on intelligence,
as ability piles on ability, the speed changes.
Until what? Until you reach a crescendo in a way…
could be imagined as an enormous instantaneous fulfillment of human,
human and neo-human potential.
It could be something totally different.
It could be the amplification of the individual,
the multiplication of individual existences.
Parallel existences now with the individual no longer restricted by time and space.
And the manifestations of this neo-human-type evolution,
manifestations could be dramatically counter-intuitive.
That’s the interesting part. The old evolution is cold.
It’s sterile. It’s efficient, okay?
And its manifestations are those social adaptations.
You’re talking about parasitism, dominance, morality, okay?
Uh, war, predation, these would be subject to de-emphasis.
These would be subject to de-evolution.
The new evolutionary paradigm will give us the human traits of truth, of loyalty, of justice, of freedom.
These will be the manifestations of the new evolution.
That is what we would hope to see from this. That would be nice.”

Eamonn Healy, Chemistry professor at University of Texas at Austin